Marine conveyer.



'No. 718,368. PATENTED JAN. 13,1903.-

T. s. MILLER.

MARINE GONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25, 1901. vno MODEL. 2 BHEETSSHEET 1.

m: NORFIS PETERS co. mom-undo" msumnvoa n. c.

U 'PATEN'IED JAN. 13 'T. S. MILLER. MARINE CONVEYER. APPLIOATION FILED EAR. 25, 1901.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

HO MODEL.

' NlTE STATES ATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS SPENCER MILLER, OF SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

MARINE CONVEYER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 718,368, dated January 13, 1903.

Original application filed September 29, 1898, Serial No. 692,171. Divided and this application filed March 25, 1901. Serial To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS-SPENCER MIL- LER, of South Orange, in'the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Marine Oonveyer, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in marine conveyors, and comprises the novel features which will be hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims Reference is to be had tothe accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figures 1, 2, and 3 show slightly-different modifications of my device applied for conveying coal or other commodity between two vessels at sea. Figs. 4. and 5 are details showing a form of collapsible anchor which it is preferred to use in connection with my device.

This application is a division of my application, Serial No. 692,171, filed September 29, 1898.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, A represents a vessel to which supplies are to be delivered, and B a vessel from which said supplies are taken, the vessel A being represented as a war-ship, while the vessel B is a collier or other merchant vessel. These two vessels are represented as one towing the other in the drawings, the war-ship being represented as the towing vessel, although the relative position of these two vessels may be reversed, in which case the collier would be the towing vessel and the war-ship the towed vessel. These two vessels are connected by means of a towline 0, so as to maintain them as nearly as may be at an approximately constant distance. Between elevated supports upon the two vessels extends a line 1, which acts as a trackway for the support of the carriage by which the loads are transported between the two vessels. A suitable form of load-carriage D is shown in my Patent No. 637,148, dated November 14, 1899. These supports are represented as being respectively a mast of the collier and a shear-leg or other similar device upon the war-ship.

In Fig. 1 the war-ship is represented as (No model.)

having a traction-motor E mounted thereon and to which the forward end of the rope 1 is connected, so that the rope may be wound in or paid out as desired. This rope 1 passes over sheaves carried by the elevated support upon the war vessel and other sheaves carried by the masts or their supports for the rope upon the collier and extends astern of the collier. To the rear end of this rope is connected a sea-anchor which is preferably composed of two partsa portion F,which is of constant area and may be of any suitable construction, and a portion f, which is collapsible and is automatically operated by the pressure of the water thereon, so that when the forward speed of the sea-anchor is increased above a certain standard this 001- lapsible portion will be thrown into such a position as to offer a less resistance to the passage of the anchor through the water and so that when the speed of the anchor through the Water decreases below said standard this portion of the anchor will expand and offer additional resisting-surfaces to the passage of the anchor through the water. 1

While the use of the collapsible form of anchor is preferred, it is, however, not essential to the operation of the device as a whole, but simply facilitates proper and smooth operation thereon.

Mounted upon the rope 1 is the load-carrier D. In the form shown in Fig. 1 this loadcarrier is connected with the rope, so as to move in conformity therewith, and the load is transported from one vessel to the other by taking in and paying out the rope from the transit-motor E. In-taking in the rope upon said motor the rope will be transported from the collier to the war vessel, the motor actingin opposition to the pull of the sea-anchor and causing the same to travel toward the vessels. When it is desired to send the carrier back toward the rearmost vessel or collier, the rope is paid out from the transitmotor, and the sea-anchor acting upon the rope causes it to move backward, carrying the load-carrier D. with it. It is of course understood that during the operation of the device the vessels are under way, moving at such a speed as to best facilitate the operation of the device.

In Fig. 2 a slightly-diderent arrangement of the ropes and a difierent position for the transit-motor are shown. In this case the transit-motor is removed from the forward vessel and placed upon the rearmost vessel, the rope 1 thus extending in a loop between the two vessels. In this case the load-carrier D is provided with wheels running upon one run of the rope. In Fig. 3the rope 1, extending between the two vessels, is made double throughout its length and the two ends thereof are caused to wind upon two motors E and 11, mounted upon the collier B. A sheave 9 is placed within the rearmost loop of the rope 1 and is connected with an'cXtension 1, which leads backward to the sea-anchor. Between the sheave 9 and the motor 11 is placed a sheave 10, which is supported upon the mast of the collier adjacent to the sheaves over which the rope 1 extends. In this construction the two drums E and 11 actuate the rope in opposite directions and the sea-anchor serves to maintain a constant tension upon the rope and to provide for the variations in distance between the two vessels. In all of the forms illustrated the sea-anchor acts as the take-up and tension device for the rope which serves to support the load in its passage between the two vessels.

The sea-anchor, which is shown in detail in Figs. 4 and 5, consists of a rearmost portion comprising a cone 20, preferably formed of a ring having a cone of canvas secured thereto, the open end of the cone being forward when the device is in use. This cone is connected, by means of rods or ropes 27, to the draft-bar 26. This draft-bar is secured byits forward end to a plate 24, upon which are pivoted a series of braces 25, the other ends of which are pivoted to radial ribs 22, said ribs at their inner ends being pivoted to a plate or spider 23, which is secured to the draft-rope 1 in any convenient manner.

The draft-bar 26 passes freely through a plate 28, and between said plate 28 and the plate 24 is interposed a strong spring 31. The plate 28 has rods 29 secured thereto and passing freely through guiding-holes in the plate 24 and has a plate 30 secured to their forward ends and also secured to the rearward end of the draft-rope 1. The tendency of the spring is to act between the plates 28 and 24, so as to throw the ribs 22 into their radial position, as shown in Fig. 4, the said position being that in which the plates are substantially at right angles to the direction of the draft-rope 1. These ribs 22 are covered with canvas or other material 21, so as to form when they are opened a large surface, which is opposed to the motion of the anchor through the water. When the motion of the anchor becomes sufficiently rapid that the pressure upon the surface of this portion of the anchor exceeds the strength of the spring 31 it will compress said spring, and will thus permit the folding portion of the anchor to assume a position corresponding more or less nearly with that shown in Fig. 5. The pull of the fixed rearmost portion of the anchor is also upon said spring and acts to collapse the forward portion of the anchor and to reduce the strain below what it would otherwise be. The interposition of this spring between the anchor and the vessel also serves to relieve the rope from strains which would otherwise be caused by tossing of the vessel or otherinequalities in its movement.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a marine conveyer the combination with a cableway having a transit-rope extending between two vessels, a carriage actuated by said transit-rope, and means exterior to both of said vessels for actuating said transit-rope to convey the load-carriage from one vessel to the other. 2. In a marine conveyer the combination with a cableway havinga transit-rope extending between two vessels, a carriage actuated by said transit-rope, and means actuated by the movement of the vessels through the water for actuating said transit-rope to transfer the carriage from one vessel to the other.

3. In a marine conveyer the combination of a cableway extending between two vessels, a carriage adapted to travel on said cableway, and means actuated by movement of the vessels through the water for propelling said car riage from one vessel to the other.

4. In a marine conveyer the combination with a cableway comprising a cable extend ing between the two vessels, guides for said cable upon each vessel, and means exterior to both of said vessels acting upon said cable to move the same and to thereby transfer the load-carriage from one vessel to the other.

5. In a conveying apparatus the combination with rope-guides mounted upon two vessels, arope extending through said guides and connecting said vessels, and a load-carrier adapted to be carried by said rope, of a transit-motor connected with one end of said rope to draw it in and a sea-anchor attached to the other end of said rope to return the same.

6. In a marine conveyer the combination with rope-guides carried upon the two vessels, a rope extending through said guides and connecting said vessels, a load-carrier adapted to be carried by said rope, of a transit-motor connected with one end of said rope to draw it in, and a sea-anchor connected to the other end of the rope and having a collapsible member which begins to close when the speed rises above a certain point.

7. In a marine conveyer the combination with rope-guides mounted upon two vessels, a rope extending through said guides and connecting said vessels, a load-carrier connected with said rope, of a transit-motor connected with one end of said rope to draw it in, and a sea-anchor attached to the other end of said rope and provided with means whereby its resistance to passage through the water approximates uniformity at different speeds.

8. In a marine conveyer, the combination with a cable extending between two vessels and adapted to constitute a trackway, a loadcarriage, means for traversing the carriage, and a sea-anchor having a pressure-controlled collapsible member secured to the trackwaycable to maintain the tension thereon.

9. In a marine conveyer the combination with a cable conveyer extending between two vessels and adapted to convey articles therebetween, of a sea-anchor connected with said oableway to maintain tension thereon and provided with automatically-adjustable -devices adapted to'maintain a substantially constant strain at varying speeds.

10. In a marine conveyer, in combination, 

